International Music Score Library Project
The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) is a project for the creation of a virtual library of public domain music scores, based on the wiki principle. Since its launch on February 16, 2006, more than 17,000 scores, for 10,000 works, by over 1,000 composers have been uploaded, making it one of the largest public domain music score collections on the web. The project uses MediaWiki software to provide contributors with a familiar interface. History Overview The site launched on February 16, 2006. The library consists mainly of scans of old musical editions out of copyright. In addition, it admits scores by contemporary composers who wish to share their music with the world by releasing it under a Creative Commons license. One of the main projects of IMSLP is the sorting and uploading of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach in the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (1851-1899). Besides J.S. Bach's, Frédéric Chopin's nearly complete oeuvre is available on IMSLP. Besides providing a digital repository, IMSLP offers possibilities as a musicological encyclopaedia, since multiple and historical editions of a single composition can be uploaded, and musicological analyses and historical commentaries accompany the scores. IMSLP had been officially recommended by MIT, which also used it extensively in some of its OpenCourseWare courses. It was suggested as a resource by university libraries at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music Stanford University, McGill University, Brown University, University of Maryland, University of New Mexico, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin-Madison, California Institute of the Arts, and it had been submitted to MERLOT by a member professor. Closure and reopening On 19 October 2007 the IMSLP closed following legal demands from Universal Edition of Vienna, Austria. The cease and desist letter expressed concern that some works that are in public domain in the server's location in Canada with copyright protection of 50 years post mortem, but which are protected by the 70 years post mortem term in some other countries, were available in those countries. The administrator of the website, known under the nickname Feldmahler, decided to close down the repository, but left the forums online so that discussions into the best way to proceed could be made: In response, director Michael S. Hart of Project Gutenberg offered support to keep the project online. This offer was declined by Feldmahler, who voiced concern about having the project hosted in the United States, and consulted the Canadian wing of Project Gutenberg. On November 2, 2007, Michael Geist, a prominent Canadian copyright academic, wrote an article for the BBC discussing the specifics and the wider implications of this case. IMSLP went back online on 30 June 2008. Similar projects * Mutopia project: focused on typeset scores. * Choral Public Domain Library: focused on choral and vocal music. * Werner Icking Music Archive: contains mainly early music. * Musopen Public Domain Sheet Music References See also *List of online music databases External links * IMSLP Official Homepage * IMSLP forums * Announcement of reopening Category:Digital libraries Category:Wikis Category:Music websites Category:Public domain music Category:Online music and lyrics databases Category:Internet services shut down by a legal challenge ca:International Music Score Library Project de:International Music Score Library Project es:Proyecto Biblioteca Internacional de Partituras Musicales fr:International Music Score Library Project it:International Music Score Library Project nl:International Music Score Library Project ja:International Music Score Library Project ro:International Music Score Library Project sv:International Music Score Library Project uk:International Music Score Library Project